ASSESSMENT AND UTILIZATION OF FUEL WOOD SPECIES IN WARAWA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF KANO STATE, NIGERIA.

Abstract

Fuel wood gathering is one of the major economic resources in rural communities especially in the Northern Nigeria which could lead todevastation of the forest. The research focused on the assessment and utilization of the fuelwood species in Warawa Local Government, Kano State. Purposive random sampling was the technique used and one hundred and twenty (120) structured questionnaires were administered to the respondents. Four major markets sampled were: Warawa, Garindau, Tangar and Amarawa fuel wood markets. Descriptive statisticswere used such as frequency and percentage. Results showed that majority of the respondents(42.5%) were within the age brackets of 41 and above, 72.5% were married, 40% had secondary school education while 58%of the respondents’ occupation were farming. Parkia biglobosa tree species were found to be the most predominant with 27% followed by Azadirachta indica (21%) while Ziziphus spinochristi and Khaya senegalensis were the trees species 8% respectively. Anogeissus leiocarpus was the most expensive tree species, while, the species with less price was Parkia biglobosa. The economic tree species were used for fossil fuel in the study area; which may lead to loss of the important species. Therefore, it is important to identify and prescribed specific tree species for fuel wood utilization and do the proper monitoring of both the forest guide and forest users respectively